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Rain coming but won't ease fire threat

Dry region needs 'consistent rainfall for a week'

A worker with the Division of Forestry monitors a controlled burn in Guana River State Park along State Road A1A just north of the middle beach parking lot on Friday. By DARON DEAN, daron.dean@staugustine.com

Scorched palmettos line State Road A1A North at Guana River State Park's middle beach parking lot following Thursday's brush fire. The parking area remains closed. By DARON DEAN, daron.dean@staugustine.com

Although there is a higher chance of rain next week, both meteorologists and fire officials agree that it won't be enough to clear the area of dry and dangerous fire conditions.

St. Augustine has a 30 percent chance of rain on Monday through Wednesday this upcoming week, according to Phil Peterson, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jacksonville. Even though this is a higher chance of rain than the area's seen in the past few weeks, it's still below normal, Peterson said.

"Right now all we're seeing is the occasional isolated shower," he said. "We're not going to see widespread heavy rain, but most likely some scattered storms each day."

Peterson said that usually Northeast Florida sees consistent 50 percent chances of rain every day in the summer.

"One or even two days of rain is going to help, but it's not going to fix the problem," said Jeremy Robshaw, public information officer with St. Johns County Fire Rescue. "We would need two to three inches of good, heavy, consistent rainfall for a week to have an effect on the dry conditions."

Firefighters are battling more than 20 active fires in St. Johns County, ranging in size from a 10th of an acre to 74 or 78 acres.

Fire Rescue and Division of Forestry personnel were on scene at the Guana River State Park on Friday monitoring a brush fire that burned across the sand dunes and into the woods of the park Thursday afternoon. Firefighters conducted control burns to help contain the fire and lessen the chance of the flames rekindling or sparking over at another location.

The park's parking lot is closed to day, as well as some boardwalks, due to fire damage.

Flagler County has more than 14 active brush fires, including the Espanola fire that spans over more than 2,780 acres.

The current St. Johns County drought index is 682 on the Keetch-Byram Drought Index, a scale of 0-800. The higher the number, the drier the conditions.

Meteorologists say that there are no weather systems, like tropical storms on the horizon either.

"We're not seeing any tropical systems moving in either," Peterson said. "We're having a very gradual start to our summer season."

St. Johns County is under a 90-day burn ban, which excludes any outdoor burning, due to the extremely dry conditions. Little rainfall, high temperatures, worsening drought conditions and significant wind led the county commissioners to extend the ban.

Those caught setting off fireworks could be issued written citations by law enforcement officers.

Types of burning still allowed are limited to campfires located within a metal ring and then only if the fire is located within a state park or licensed campground. In addition, cooking fires within a barbecue grill, hibachi or similar device specifically intended for cooking is still permitted.